


A Million Little Suns

by easyluckyfree45



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Romance, Snow, Snowball Fight, The fluffiest thing I've ever written, they build a snowman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28338867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/easyluckyfree45/pseuds/easyluckyfree45
Summary: “You’ve never seen snow?” Betty practically shrieks out.“No, I mean I grew up in the area. It hasn’t snowed in Austin in over four decades. I think the last time it did, it was barely a sprinkling. It was nothing like this,” he says as he points at the constant downfall of snow outside.“That means you’ve never thrown a snowball. You’ve never made a snowman?” she asks, a twinge of sadness in her tone. Snowball fights and building snowmen were the best parts of her childhood winters.Jughead shrugs as if he isn’t bothered by it.“Nope, unacceptable,” she says with determination, shaking her head back and forth.“What’s unacceptable?” he parrots back with a hint of a smile.“You can’t go through your whole life having never made a snowman. We’re going to go build one right now.” She throws the blanket over her couch and starts to walk towards her bedroom. “Go get dressed, Jones. I’ll meet you outside in five minutes.”“Uhh, I did not agree to this,” he calls out to her retreating body.She doesn’t answer him, just waves her hand dismissively in his general direction.Looks like they’re building a snowman.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 35
Kudos: 98
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Bughead Secret Santa





	A Million Little Suns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [secretsofthesky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretsofthesky/gifts).



> Written for Bughead Secret Santa for secretsofthesky!! Happy Holidays, darling!! Her favorite part of the holiday season is the snow, her favorite trope is enemies to lovers, and her favorite Christmas movie is Love Actually! Hope this fic gives you all those vibes combined, my dear! 
> 
> Jughead’s outfit is inspired by a real outfit my husband used to wear when he first moved to Boston from DFW because he’d never experienced winter and had no idea how to dress for the weather.
> 
> A million thank you's to my darling Lisa ([moons2stars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moons2stars/pseuds/moons2stars)) for beta-ing and also making this PERFECT moodboard. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL AHHHHH!!

_I don't want a lot for Christmas_   
_There is just one thing I need_   
_I don't care about the presents_   
_Underneath the Christmas tree_   
_I just want you for my own_   
_More than you could ever know_   
_Make my wish come true_   
_All I want for Christmas is you_

_“All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey_

_**"The snow is sparkling like a million little suns." - Lama Willa Miller** _

Winter in Austin doesn’t always feel like winter.

The temperature in December rarely drops below the mid-forties in the warm Texan city. There’s never any snow. In the decade that Betty Cooper’s lived here, she’s never had to break out her intense down parkas from her days of living in upstate New York.

Most years, a windbreaker suffices. Not this year though.

Betty shivers and startles awake. Her feet are freezing; her toes feel like they’re going to fall straight off. Curling the blanket around her body, she tucks her legs in, trying her best to preserve her warmth. Turning to face her nightstand, she sees that it’s barely 5AM in the morning, an entire hour before when she usually wakes up for a run before getting ready for work.

How is it so cold right now? This is bizarre.

Instantly, she wonders if her stupid neighbor-slash-super annoying co-worker has something to do with it. Jughead Jones is constantly finding ways to piss her off and frustrate her to no end. It would not surprise her at all if this was a part of his scheming. They seem to have found an unsteady truce in their prank war against one another as of late. She’s not even sure how it devolved to this point. When she first started working at the online magazine two years ago, he had been off-putting and cold towards her. And then started the pranking.

So she started pranking him back because her mother has always taught her the best defense is a strong offense. No one messes with Betty Cooper like that.

No one except Jughead Jones, apparently. The bastard has figured out how to control her thermostat remotely. She knows it.

Getting off the bed, she drags her blanket with her, wrapping it around herself like a cocoon. Hazily, she walks into the living room and checks the thermometer. With wide eyes, she’s horrified to find that it’s below 60 degrees in her house. She turns up the thermostat, her ears perked, listening to the familiar sound of her central air starting up.

But nothing comes.

She moves into the hallway and stands directly below a vent. It’s not working. Is it broken? Honestly, she can’t even remember if her apartment even comes with a heating unit. In all the years that she’s lived there, she’s never once had to turn it on. She doesn’t even know if it works. Maybe it’s just installed for show.

Betty is two steps away from grabbing her wrench out of her toolbox -- determined to fix the heating unit, if said heating unit actually existed -- when she hears the knock on her door.

Knock is perhaps too calm a word. It’s more like a pounding.

“Cooper, I know you’re in there!” Jughead’s dumb deep voice filters through her door. It’s annoyingly sexy. Wait no, no it’s not. Where the hell did that thought come from? Jughead is most certainly not sexy. He’s an asinine, sarcastic jerkface.

When she doesn’t immediately answer him, lost in her thoughts, he pounds on the door again. “You better open up now. I know what you did--”

Betty flings the door open and tightens the blanket around herself. Jughead clearly hasn’t been sleeping. It’s obvious from the dark circles under his eyes and his messy, unkempt dark hair sticking up at every angle. It’s rather charming to see him this way -- he seems more vulnerable and real.

Nope, nope, nope. Not going down that path.

“Why did you mess with my thermostat? I thought we called a truce,” he demands as he storms into her apartment dressed only in plaid pajama pants and a faded grey S t-shirt that molds his lean muscles entirely too well.

Well, that didn’t last long. Not charming at all then.

She rolls her eyes so hard that they almost fall out of her head. “Please, as if I would be that amateur. Clearly, you messed with both our thermostats because it’s freezing in here too.”

She waves her hands around her as if it further proves her point. When he shoots her a look of disdain mixed with disbelief, she pulls the blanket further around her body.

“Okay, so now that we’ve settled that. Can you get out? I have things to do. Runs to-” she pauses for a moment before finishing lamely. “Run.”

“You’re going out running?” he asks incredulously. “You’re insane. It’s 5AM.”

“Well, not all of us are vampires that work through the night, never sleeping. Some of us are actually productive members of society,” she sasses back.

“It’s not even light out yet. You could get hurt!” he insists.

“Since when do you care about my well-being? Also I’ll be fine. I’m sure the sun is rising as we speak.”

“It definitely is not up yet,” he retorts.

“Oh what do you know?” she rolls her eyes again in exasperation. “You probably never open your blinds given that you’re allergic to the sun.”

“The vampire related insults are getting old, Cooper,” Jughead bites out.

Then he stomps over to the window in her living room and pulls back the blinds before she can open her mouth to protest-slash-yell at him. Almost dramatically, the blinds unveil the snowy winter scene outside. Drops of snow splash onto the glass before they melt into liquid, sliding down the length of her window.

It’s snowing.

Jughead appears to be as shocked as she is. If she weren’t so entranced by the snowglobe outside her window, she’d likely tease him about his current expression.

She walks up to the window, standing right next to him and holds a hand up to the glass. “I haven’t seen snow in years,” she murmurs. “Is it weird to miss it?”

The corners of his lips twitch upwards and his face softens as he looks at her. “It’s not weird at all. I’ve never seen snow before.”

“You’ve never seen snow?” Betty practically shrieks out.

“No, I mean I grew up in the area. It hasn’t snowed in Austin in over four decades. I think the last time it did, it was barely a sprinkling. It was nothing like this,” he says as he points at the constant downfall of snow outside.

“That means you’ve never thrown a snowball. You’ve never made a snowman?” she asks, a twinge of sadness in her tone. Snowball fights and building snowmen were the best parts of her childhood winters.

Jughead shrugs as if he isn’t bothered by it.

“Nope, unacceptable,” she says with determination, shaking her head back and forth.

“What’s unacceptable?” he parrots back with a hint of a smile.

“You can’t go through your whole life having never made a snowman. We’re going to go build one right now.” She throws the blanket over her couch and starts to walk towards her bedroom. “Go get dressed, Jones. I’ll meet you outside in five minutes.”

“Uhh, I did not agree to this,” he calls out to her retreating body.

She doesn’t answer him, just waves her hand dismissively in his general direction.

Looks like they’re building a snowman.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Jughead doesn’t have any winter clothes.

After checking the weather app on his phone and realizing that it’s currently 28 degrees outside, he decides on layering one long-sleeved shirt and two sweaters. He tops it all off with a leather jacket -- the warmest coat that he owns. Lacing up his black combat boots, he pulls his favorite grey crown beanie over his hair.

Unsurprisingly, Betty Cooper beats him and is already outside, arms outstretched as she twirls around. She kind of looks like a fairy like this with the snow falling around her. Snowflakes adorn her golden blonde hair. The barest hints of morning light start to fill up the sky, illuminating her in low light.

She looks magical.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he trudges towards her with an impassive look on his face, always careful to hide behind it.

“Let’s get this over with, Cooper,” Jughead grunts out.

Betty bends down to start gathering some snow without answering him, likely making the foundation for the snowman. That’s how this works, right? He doesn’t know. He’s not exactly an expert when it comes to fabricating snowmen.

He doesn’t expect the hit when it happens. It’s all so sudden. One minute, he’s mildly annoyed at the cold nipping at his cheeks and the next, an entire snowball flies into his face, hitting him on the nose. The snow slides down his face and plops down onto the ground.

“What the-”

“You deserved it for being a grinch!”

He turns to walk away, making sure to stomp on the snow extra loud, ignoring Betty as she calls out after him.

“Wait, hold on! Don’t leave. Ughhh,” she grits out, throwing her hands up into the air. “I’m sorry!”

She chases after him and is standing right behind him as he turns around. He doesn’t respond to her. Instead, he reaches down, scoops up a handful of snow, packs it into a ball and drops it onto her head.

Her mouth opens in fake outrage and he shoots her a devilish grin. “It’s on.”

“Oh, I’m so going to get you for that,” she says with a laugh.

Jughead bolts away with record speed, moving faster than his body has ever done before. He ducks behind a tree. A snowball whizzes past him, nearly hitting him.

“Jesus, are you trying to kill me?” he yells out from his hiding spot.

“What? You’re scared of little old me and some snow?”

“When you’re whipping snow at 100 miles an hour at me, yeah.” He gathers some snow and peeks out from the tree. A snowball slams into where his head was as he quickly shirks back. He knows he’s riling her up, bringing out her competitive nature.

This part of her amuses him to no end. It’s so easy to push her buttons. It’s just so satisfying to see her explosive reaction.

“I’ll never surrender, Cooper, so you might as well just give up now!’ He hollers before he runs for the bushes a few feet away, throwing the snowball while he’s at it.

It lands against her calf and she throws three more snowballs at him in retaliation. Since when did she acquire such a large arsenal? The little minx is speedy as hell.

He lands with an oomph against the snow-covered ground. The wetness starts to seep through the leather, chilling him, and he already regrets his choice of clothing. Leather and water don’t exactly mix. Steeling himself against the cold, he forces himself to focus on what really matters here and that’s defeating Betty Cooper, his pseudo archenemy.

Well, it’s always been pseudo for him. He’s not actually sure what her real feelings are. It’s more reason why he hides behind the jokes and taunts.

Before his thoughts can spiral, two more snowballs land on the bush, narrowly missing him. Damn, she really has a strong arm on her. She may be tiny but clearly, she packs quite the punch. He lays on the ground in a plank position and shifts forward as quietly as he can, peeking around the corner of the bush.

She’s still hiding behind a tree, her attention focused on where he was previously, a few feet away at this point. Success!

She hasn’t realized that he has moved. His master plan is coming together well. As softly as he can, he gathers the snow in front of him together and forms multiple snowballs that he stuffs into his pockets. He has one chance at this so he needs to execute it perfectly.

“Come on out, Jones. Or are you scared of me?” Betty taunts in a sing-song voice.

He smirks at this. Oh, he’s coming out alright. Keeping his head and body down behind the bushes, he crouches, peeking around the corner to see that Betty has now inched out of her hiding spot, her green eyes searching for him and lighting up in confusion when she doesn’t find him.

It’s the opening he needs.

With deadly silence, he charges towards her and whips all the snowballs he has in his pockets in her direction. He mostly misses. The overexcitement doesn’t exactly help his aim. But two land against her chest. She tries to dart away from him but he’s bigger and faster.

However, that means that when his boots start to slip against the ice and snow, he can’t stop himself from colliding directly into her delicate body. They go down fast and he turns them so that he lands first and she falls into him with an audible oomph.

She’s probably still recovering from shock. That’s the only reason why she’s not shouting at him right now.

Jughead takes these few rare moments to admire her beauty from up close. Her rosy cheeks are tinged pink from the cold. She has the most ridiculous fuzzy sky blue hat on with a ball of fur at the top. He has the urge to run his fingers through her long blonde hair to feel if the strands are as silky as they look.

She shifts on top of him and makes a move to get up. He helps her up and they sit next to one another, the snow continuing to fall around them.

“Does this mean I won?” she asks, recovering first.

“None of that means you won,” he throws back at her with a grin.

“Fine, let’s say that we were evenly matched then. Even though we all know another few minutes in that fight would have secured my inevitable victory,” she says, her green eyes sparkling with mirth. She gets on her knees and starts to gather up snow again.

“I’m not ready for round two yet,” he comments as he watches her.

“We can save that for later. Let’s get started on the snowman!”

“Is that next on our agenda?”

She snorts, her lips forming a smile, but she never responds to the barb, continuing to focus her attention on the ground. He helps her, following her lead on how to pack the snow properly to create the perfect circular shape. With both of them working steadily, it’s relatively easy to build the snowman. Jughead breaks off two branches from the nearby tree for the snowman’s arms and Betty finds three rocks for the buttons.

They stand back to admire their creation before an excited “oh” escapes her lips. A carrot appears from her pockets and she sticks it on the snowman, effectively creating his nose.

“It looks so good!” she exclaims with a bright smile.

Jughead inches a little closer to her and brushes a few snowflakes off her face. If she’s surprised at his sudden touch, she doesn’t show it. His next words do succeed in surprising her, however.

“So, aren’t we supposed to kiss or something?” he murmurs.

Betty faces him, her eyes wide with shock. “W-What?” she manages to stutter out.

He takes a step closer, reading her face carefully. His hand, warm and rough against her skin, pushes a few more strands of hair off her face. “You’re supposed to kiss someone after the first snow of the season. It’s like the weather equivalent of mistletoe.”

Her eyes flash with confusion, as if she’s trying to recall anytime she’s ever heard that little fact in the past. Then, she bites her lower lip and replies softly, “You definitely just made that up so you could kiss me.”

“Why would I want to kiss you?” he asks gruffly.

She sputters, not picking up on the desire in his tone. “You literally just suggested we make out.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the weather telling us that, not me,” he replies teasingly.

Before she can respond, he leans down and captures her lips swiftly. She opens her mouth willingly and moans into the kiss as their tongues battle for dominance. He drinks in her taste and the feel of her exquisite body against his. She fits so perfectly into his arms, just like he always knew she would.

He pulls back begrudgingly after a few minutes, savoring the look on her face and how delightfully ravished she looks in this moment.

“Come on, let’s go inside and make some hot cocoa,” he offers, his stomach dipping as he prepares himself for her answer and potential rejection.

Betty looks at him curiously, as if she’s considering him through a whole different lens. He stiffens under her gaze as he waits for her response. Then with a small smile, she grabs his hand and interlinks their fingers.

“Hot cocoa sounds amazing.”

  
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000


End file.
